Manufacture of nickel-copper alloys.



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMBROSE moment, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

MANUFACTURE OF NICKEL-COPPER ALLOYS- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 30, 1906.

Application filed April 20,1905. Serial No. 256,677-

many valuable properties can be made by.

smelting ore containing nickel and copper and producingthe alloydirectly in themanner substantially as explained below without theseparation of the copper and nickel constituents that has been practicedheretofore.

Such alloy is much cheaper to work and reduce into sheets than copper,and therefore afiords a less expensive finished product, but equallynon-corrodible, while it possesses about the same tensile strength andelongation as soft steel of the kind generally used for boiler-plates.The alloy can be roduced in this way very cheaply, becauset e expensiveoperation of separating the nickel and copper is dispensed with. It ismuch stronger than copper and is freely malleable, even when cast. Itcan be used for the manufacture of roofing-plates, shiplates, castings,fittings, .propellers, and ot er uses where great stren th and freedomfrom corrosion are require It also can be used to advantags in themanufacture of non-corrodible boiler-tubes. r

In making the alloy ltake ore containing sulfids ofnickel and copper,smelt it,- bessemerize the resultant matte, and then calcine thebessemerized matte to remove the sulfur and leave the nickel and copperin the form of oxide. I then reduce the oxide in a reverup to tenberator furnace with carbon or other suitable re ucing agent, so as toproduce an alloy containing, preferably, two parts of nickel and onepart of copper; but this proportion may be varied by the addition ofcopper, if desired, or ores containing other proportions of 00 per maybe smelted and the product se-- cure in accordance with my invention.Iron may also be added in small proportionssay per cent. orthereabout-when desired.

I claim- 1. The method of making an alloy of nickel and copper whichconsists in smelting ore containing sulfids of said metals,bessemerizing the resulting matte, calcining the bessemerized product tobring the metals into the form of oxids, then reducing the oxids andproducing directly a malleable nickelcopper alloy without separatingthese metals from each other.

Witnesses:

- E, F. WOOD, JAS. LASZBY.

